This was evident in the high number of home sales the suburbs had consistently racked up over the past four years: Frankston has had between 263 and 330 sales every quarter of the last four years, Boronia, 121-142, and Langwarrin, 113-138.

Mr Ryder said price rises typically followed sustained periods of sales activity, meaning savvy buyers who identified this pattern could “buy ahead of price growth by finding locations where sales volumes are rising, but prices have not yet moved”.

Langwarrin’s median house price has notably jumped 62 per cent in the past five years to $610,000.

What does the future of housing in Melbourne look like?2:35

Greville Pabst from WBP group takes a look at how we will be living in the future in Melbourne

March 5th 2018

a year ago

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Hotspotting’s Terry Ryder said the Melbourne market was well past its peak.Source:Supplied

The Hotspotting report said the suburbs offered safe havens in a Melbourne market that was “well past its peak”.

CoreLogic revealed this week that home values have fallen 2.9 per cent since November in the city, with Victoria’s capital “leading” a national downturn.

O’Brien Real Estate director Mark Stott said Langwarrin had historically been able to “weather the storm” when the broader market was challenged.

“Even when we had the GFC, we bucked the trend and performed well,” he said.

Mr Stott said buyers kept coming back for Langwarrin’s “semirural, leafy lifestyle” that was close to the beach, an easy commute to the CBD, offered decent schools and was “still so affordable”.

1/24 North St sold in Ardeer last month, for $601,000.Source:Supplied

The Hotspotting report also found Melbourne had just 12 “rising suburbs” left — down from a peak of 127 in mid-2015 and “the lowest since the boom began”.

But their growth potential was just about tapped out, he said: “If you’re a homebuyer looking for somewhere affordable, you’d still do well to buy in these areas. But investors would be better off going regional (notably to Ballarat, Bendigo or Geelong).”

Meanwhile, units in Carlton, Collingwood, Docklands and North Melbourne, and both houses and units Hawthorn and Hawthorn East, had become “danger” zones investors should avoid.

Mr Ryder said these areas had experienced a toxic combination of a reduction in demand and rise in supply.